Greetings Sadhakas,
This week in class
we are considering forgiveness, Ahimsa and Tapas.
I tell you one
thing - if you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others. Rather learn
to see your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a
stranger, my child; this whole world is your own.
-
Sri Sarada Devi
When we get even
the slightest glimpse of the unity of life, we realize that in tearing others
down we are tearing ourselves down too. When you sit in judgment on other
people and countries and races, you're training your mind to sit in judgment on
yourself. As we forgive others, we are teaching the mind to respond with
forgiveness everywhere, even to the misdeeds and mistakes of our own past.
Words to Live By:
Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is
to study this quote from Light on the Yoga Sutras by BKS Iyengar: “Ahimsa cannot be properly understood
without reference to tapas. Tapas is the inner himsa (violence) by which we create
the possibility of outer ahimsa. Ahimsa
cannot exist alone. A complementary
force must exist. Mahatma Gandhi would
never have been able to summon up the implacable peacefulness which moved an
empire, without his ruthless attitude towards his own self. Violence is perhaps too strong a word for Tapas, but it is a burning inner zeal
and austerity, a sort of unflagging hardness of attitude towards oneself which
make possible compassion and forgiveness towards others.”
Ahimsa = a
commitment to non-violence. The 1st Yama.
Tapas = practices
of self-purification through discipline. The 3rd Niyama.
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington
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